Synonyms for severe
səˈvɪərse·vere

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:2.0 / 1 vote

1. severeadjective

   Very bad or intense.

   Antonyms:
   mild, minor

2. severeadjective

   Antonyms:
   lenient

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. severe

   That is severe which is devoid of all softness, mildness, tenderness, indulgence or levity, or (in literature and art) devoid of unnecessary ornament, amplification, or embellishment of any kind; as, a severe style; as said of anything painful, severe signifies such as heavily taxes endurance or resisting power; as, a severe pain, fever, or winter. Rigid signifies primarily stiff, resisting any effort to change its shape; a corpse is said to be rigid in death; hence, in metaphorical sense, a rigid person or character is one that resists all efforts to change the will or course of conduct; a rigid rule or statement is one that admits of no deviation. Rigorous is nearly akin to rigid, but is a stronger word, having reference to action or active qualities, as rigid does to state or character; a rigid rule may be rigorously enforced. Strict (Latin stringo, bind) signifies bound or stretched tight, tense, strenuously exact. Stern unites harshness and authority with strictness or severity; stern, as said even of inanimate objects, suggests something authoritative or forbidding. Austere signifies severely simple or temperate, strict in self-restraint or discipline, and similarly unrelenting toward others. We speak of austere morality, rigid rules, rigorous discipline, stern commands, severe punishment, harsh speech or a harsh voice, hard requirements, strict injunctions, and strict obedience. Strict discipline holds one exactly and unflinchingly to the rule; rigorous discipline punishes severely any infraction of it. The austere character is seldom lovely, but it is always strong and may be grand, commanding, and estimable.

   Synonyms:
   austere, hard, harsh, inexorable, inflexible, morose, relentless, rigid, rigorous, stern, stiff, strict, uncompromising, unmitigated, unrelenting, unyielding

   Antonyms:
   affable, bland, easy, genial, gentle, indulgent, lenient, mild, pliable, soft, sweet, tender, tractable, yielding

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. severe

   Synonyms:
   serious, austere, stern, grave, strict, harsh, rigid, rigorous, sharp, afflictive, distressing, violent, extreme, exact, critical, censorious, caustic, sarcastic, cutting, keen, bitter, cruel

   Antonyms:
   gay, smiling, cheerful, relaxed, jocose, jocund, joyous, mild, genial, indulgent, light, trivial, tri-fling, inconsiderable, inexact, loose, uncritical, lenient, inextreme, moderate, kind, considerate, feeling, tender, gentle

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:2.3 / 3 votes

1. severe, terrible, wickedadjective

   intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality

   "severe pain"; "a severe case of flu"; "a terrible cough"; "under wicked fire from the enemy's guns"; "a wicked cough"

   Synonyms:
   life-threatening, dreadful, distasteful, revolting, pixilated, repellant, foul, implike, repellent, mischievous, arch, austere, serious, awful, puckish, frightful, horrendous, sinful, tremendous, disgustful, dire, loathly, stern, grievous, skanky, repelling, atrocious, painful, prankish, impish, grave, dangerous, yucky, wicked, unholy, dread(a), hard, unspeakable, horrific, terrible, dreaded, abominable, frightening, fearsome, fearful, loathsome, direful, stark, disgusting, spartan, knockout

   Antonyms:
   noncritical, fancy, mild, weak, indulgent, noncrucial, good

2. hard, knockout, severeadjective

   very strong or vigorous

   "strong winds"; "a hard left to the chin"; "a knockout punch"; "a severe blow"

   Synonyms:
   arduous, wicked, grueling, tough, grievous, serious, terrible, toilsome, hard, stark, life-threatening, spartan, stern, heavy, voiceless, laborious, difficult, grave, austere, knockout, gruelling, intemperate, concentrated, punishing, unvoiced, dangerous, operose, backbreaking, surd, strong

   Antonyms:
   noncritical, indulgent, fancy, weak, mild, noncrucial, good

3. austere, severe, stark, sternadjective

   severely simple

   "a stark interior"

   Synonyms:
   life-threatening, perfect(a), consummate(a), unadulterated, double-dyed(a), austere, serious, ascetic, bare, arrant(a), stark, desolate, staring(a), unrelenting, stern, grievous, sodding(a), unappeasable, grave, everlasting(a), crude(a), dangerous, wicked, complete(a), hard, gross(a), terrible, stark(a), pure(a), relentless, barren, unforgiving, blunt, grim, bleak, inexorable, exacting, thoroughgoing(a), strict, ascetical, utter(a), spartan, knockout

   Antonyms:
   noncrucial, noncritical, indulgent, good, mild, fancy, weak

4. severe, spartanadjective

   unsparing and uncompromising in discipline or judgment

   "a parent severe to the pitch of hostility"- H.G.Wells; "a hefty six-footer with a rather severe mien"; "a strict disciplinarian"; "a Spartan upbringing"

   Synonyms:
   serious, stark, spartan, ascetical, grave, knockout, austere, terrible, wicked, hard, life-threatening, stern, ascetic, dangerous, grievous

   Antonyms:
   noncrucial, noncritical, mild, fancy, indulgent, good, weak

5. dangerous, grave, grievous, serious, severe, life-threateningadjective

   causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm

   "a dangerous operation"; "a grave situation"; "a grave illness"; "grievous bodily harm"; "a serious wound"; "a serious turn of events"; "a severe case of pneumonia"; "a life-threatening disease"

   Synonyms:
   sober, serious, wicked, stark, unsafe, terrible, hard, spartan, stern, heavy, unplayful, weighty, monstrous, grave, good, grievous, atrocious, sedate, flagitious, life-threatening, dangerous, knockout, austere, heartbreaking, heartrending, solemn

   Antonyms:
   indulgent, fancy, weak, mild, good, noncrucial, noncritical

6. severeadjective

   very bad in degree or extent

   "a severe worldwide depression"; "the house suffered severe damage"

   Synonyms:
   serious, stark, spartan, grave, knockout, austere, terrible, wicked, hard, life-threatening, stern, dangerous, grievous

   Antonyms:
   noncritical, indulgent, mild, weak, noncrucial, good, fancy

Editors ContributionRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. blique

   a condition which potentials to a catastrophe.

   after the hurricane, the entire nation human is rather oblique.

   Submitted by anonymous on January 21, 2020  

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. severeadjective

   Synonyms:
   rigid, stern, harsh, bitter, austere, rigorous, stiff, strait-laced, hard, unrelenting, relentless, inexorable, peremptory

2. severeadjective

   Synonyms:
   strict, exact, accurate, methodical

3. severeadjective

   Synonyms:
   simple, plain, unadorned, concise, chaste

4. severeadjective

   Synonyms:
   caustic, satirical, sarcastic, keen, cutting, stinging, biting, sharp

5. severeadjective

   Synonyms:
   distressing, afflictive, acute, violent, extreme, intense, hard to bear

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. severeadjective

   Synonyms:
   drastic, harsh, stern, rigorous, exact, cruel, serious, sedate, grave, austere, sober, distressing, afflictive, sharp, acute, violent, intense, inexorable, stern, exacting, peremptory, unrelenting, unmerciful, plain, austere, unembellished, unadorned, methodical, strict, precise, exact

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "severe":

   serious, grave, harsh, stringent, strict, acute, sharp, heavy, tough, rigorous, strong, violent, seriously, grim, intense, major, stern, hard, stiff, gross, drastic, fierce, dire, extreme, grievous, deep, severo, graves, severely, great, gravely

How to pronounce severe?

How to say severe in sign language?

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

1. [["1507","2"],["1515","11"],["1520","1"],["1524","4"],["1563","41"],["1564","1"],["1572","6"],["1574","1"],["1575","27"],["1579","6"],["1581","42"],["1582","23"],["1584","3"],["1587","12"],["1589","3"],["1590","22"],["1593","1"],["1600","3"],["1607","12"],["1620","4"],["1623","2"],["1624","3"],["1626","1"],["1629","1"],["1631","1"],["1635","9"],["1637","11"],["1638","6"],["1640","2"],["1642","2"],["1644","14"],["1645","13"],["1647","4"],["1648","45"],["1649","13"],["1650","3"],["1651","6"],["1652","3"],["1653","13"],["1654","1"],["1655","4"],["1656","97"],["1657","10"],["1658","21"],["1659","33"],["1660","5"],["1661","2"],["1662","10"],["1664","1"],["1665","6"],["1666","4"],["1667","28"],["1668","45"],["1669","14"],["1670","47"],["1671","12"],["1672","15"],["1673","59"],["1675","69"],["1676","61"],["1677","61"],["1678","66"],["1679","66"],["1680","33"],["1681","184"],["1682","328"],["1683","142"],["1684","116"],["1685","87"],["1686","81"],["1687","21"],["1688","90"],["1689","35"],["1690","12"],["1691","20"],["1692","39"],["1693","71"],["1694","61"],["1695","57"],["1696","45"],["1697","26"],["1698","99"],["1699","105"],["1700","195"],["1701","121"],["1702","231"],["1703","144"],["1704","221"],["1705","285"],["1706","329"],["1707","337"],["1708","235"],["1709","127"],["1710","288"],["1711","243"],["1712","162"],["1713","227"],["1714","314"],["1715","262"],["1716","225"],["1717","384"],["1718","173"],["1719","95"],["1720","508"],["1721","418"],["1722","412"],["1723","245"],["1724","452"],["1725","256"],["1726","354"],["1727","417"],["1728","410"],["1729","510"],["1730","392"],["1731","624"],["1732","383"],["1733","230"],["1734","513"],["1735","301"],["1736","425"],["1737","570"],["1738","607"],["1739","447"],["1740","340"],["1741","365"],["1742","341"],["1743","341"],["1744","551"],["1745","319"],["1746","275"],["1747","565"],["1748","523"],["1749","521"],["1750","887"],["1751","732"],["1752","550"],["1753","875"],["1754","742"],["1755","892"],["1756","337"],["1757","569"],["1758","825"],["1759","1150"],["1760","597"],["1761","819"],["1762","577"],["1763","1007"],["1764","956"],["1765","738"],["1766","1262"],["1767","905"],["1768","1249"],["1769","893"],["1770","1141"],["1771","1003"],["1772","1115"],["1773","1098"],["1774","1089"],["1775","1306"],["1776","1186"],["1777","1032"],["1778","1212"],["1779","947"],["1780","1168"],["1781","1409"],["1782","1277"],["1783","1090"],["1784","1343"],["1785","1631"],["1786","1503"],["1787","2140"],["1788","2235"],["1789","2630"],["1790","1812"],["1791","2212"],["1792","2352"],["1793","2533"],["1794","2255"],["1795","2660"],["1796","3566"],["1797","2371"],["1798","2512"],["1799","3335"],["1800","3952"],["1801","5161"],["1802","5353"],["1803","6233"],["1804","6904"],["1805","7035"],["1806","6964"],["1807","6821"],["1808","6967"],["1809","7070"],["1810","8984"],["1811","9819"],["1812","8341"],["1813","8452"],["1814","9932"],["1815","8524"],["1816","9719"],["1817","10949"],["1818","11784"],["1819","9612"],["1820","13949"],["1821","10228"],["1822","15883"],["1823","15209"],["1824","17887"],["1825","18782"],["1826","14761"],["1827","17070"],["1828","16778"],["1829","17961"],["1830","20122"],["1831","17773"],["1832","18603"],["1833","19702"],["1834","19325"],["1835","23252"],["1836","22952"],["1837","21261"],["1838","22225"],["1839","25123"],["1840","26052"],["1841","23089"],["1842","19630"],["1843","23495"],["1844","25076"],["1845","28852"],["1846","26107"],["1847","27703"],["1848","28878"],["1849","26694"],["1850","31505"],["1851","31282"],["1852","34435"],["1853","37954"],["1854","39808"],["1855","38981"],["1856","40830"],["1857","38473"],["1858","35700"],["1859","35711"],["1860","39869"],["1861","28926"],["1862","23461"],["1863","23859"],["1864","28787"],["1865","30408"],["1866","38016"],["1867","32133"],["1868","32615"],["1869","33889"],["1870","33252"],["1871","34569"],["1872","31497"],["1873","35501"],["1874","37701"],["1875","37830"],["1876","40866"],["1877","37445"],["1878","36776"],["1879","41259"],["1880","49762"],["1881","52318"],["1882","55611"],["1883","57731"],["1884","50422"],["1885","51600"],["1886","44211"],["1887","43570"],["1888","43033"],["1889","40553"],["1890","41128"],["1891","41630"],["1892","47744"],["1893","47351"],["1894","46759"],["1895","52767"],["1896","53957"],["1897","54544"],["1898","59450"],["1899","57472"],["1900","71455"],["1901","72992"],["1902","66134"],["1903","63294"],["1904","66211"],["1905","71953"],["1906","68919"],["1907","78927"],["1908","68788"],["1909","64355"],["1910","70226"],["1911","70172"],["1912","68984"],["1913","64369"],["1914","64854"],["1915","59502"],["1916","62908"],["1917","59084"],["1918","45439"],["1919","52485"],["1920","64579"],["1921","49698"],["1922","55060"],["1923","48383"],["1924","36709"],["1925","39522"],["1926","37911"],["1927","43463"],["1928","45323"],["1929","40092"],["1930","43161"],["1931","42105"],["1932","38008"],["1933","33043"],["1934","39091"],["1935","41747"],["1936","45802"],["1937","48497"],["1938","48611"],["1939","51184"],["1940","47714"],["1941","44654"],["1942","46994"],["1943","42476"],["1944","37241"],["1945","39831"],["1946","54317"],["1947","56560"],["1948","63823"],["1949","73022"],["1950","62110"],["1951","61342"],["1952","71252"],["1953","67663"],["1954","70892"],["1955","76384"],["1956","80085"],["1957","91511"],["1958","91289"],["1959","90870"],["1960","114252"],["1961","114302"],["1962","125000"],["1963","136610"],["1964","137138"],["1965","150288"],["1966","158480"],["1967","163843"],["1968","185966"],["1969","184999"],["1970","189551"],["1971","203841"],["1972","205754"],["1973","194828"],["1974","205043"],["1975","212318"],["1976","214407"],["1977","214146"],["1978","229285"],["1979","240322"],["1980","244319"],["1981","237760"],["1982","259794"],["1983","269012"],["1984","284232"],["1985","305182"],["1986","317555"],["1987","312461"],["1988","314786"],["1989","331756"],["1990","371540"],["1991","336434"],["1992","371104"],["1993","362161"],["1994","393351"],["1995","407808"],["1996","426937"],["1997","445072"],["1998","465793"],["1999","476522"],["2000","526197"],["2001","539381"],["2002","576089"],["2003","606460"],["2004","671884"],["2005","666684"],["2006","695089"],["2007","694365"],["2008","822118"]]

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use severe in a sentence?

1. Michele Flournoy:

   I think the combination of sanctions that are being considered would be even more powerful than the signal of blocking the pipeline, remember what President Putin is trying to do here, one of his objectives, is to divide the United States and Europe. So if Michele Flournoy’re going to maintain transatlantic unity to implement various severe sanctions Michele Flournoy’ve got to work with Michele Flournoy European partners, and that includes Germany.

2. Cary Fukunaga:

   Maybe it's too much for some people, but I think it's necessary to not sugarcoat the brutality, to not sugarcoat the actions of these children, even then, I think I could have been more severe sometimes.

3. Maria DeLiberato:

   Let’s be clear, life without the possibility of parole is a severe punishment, you are condemned to die in a Florida prison.

4. Rekha Kumar:

   When Cody Stanford add the inflammation of Covid on top of it, it can increase the risk of severe illness.

5. Edward Fishman:

   It will be very difficult to impose severe economic harm on Russia without affecting energy markets, oil and gas account for 40 percent of Russia's federal budget. The United States and Europe can take steps in advance to contain spillovers, but if they plan to impose serious economic sanctions on Russia, they can not avoid the energy sector entirely.